25.2.09

Something awful is afoot in Dhaka, and its been going on since early morning. Its not the University this time, nor the garments workers. The Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) has gone ape, aggreived soldiers have mutinied against their officers and there's firing going on everywhere. At present the BBC reports that one rickshaw puller has been killed in the Army-BDR crossfire (but who knows really, who will ever know).

The BDR are the people who guard the borders of country, 20 000 of them are based in the HQ in question, which is straddled by residential, commercial and educational activity in the heart of the Capital. There also some political geography to this eruption. Its near to where the Prime minister and a lot of the national-level politicians live. Posh people frequently have their weddings in the BDR Durbar Hall, and the adjacent 'Rifles Square' is military-petty commercsial complex of Bangladesh. The Prime Minister was there a day before awarding medals, when apparently all they want are better working conditions. They have been institutionally screwed around for quite a while. Then theres the international sphere, an Indian news agency alleges that the boss of the BDR has been killed, though the BDR deny this.

This is significant because it means that the Andolon Culture has penetrated the paramilitary forces. Perhaps this is the only language they feel our government understands and acceptable in current political grammar, after all they have learnt from their leaders and observed the behaviour of institutional occupiers in recent times. Maybe its miraculous that their discipline held out this long.

Thats really sad from the point of view of precedent, but also it shows that the society does not give enough value to its border protectors. We prefer to parrot out development twaddle than address issues as we conceive and face them. This is only good news for hostile neighbours and smugglers.. and Shaytan.

I am not too knowledgable about the co-ption of the Army proper into UN peacekeeping, but I know that a lot of their pay condition issues and institutional crapness are diffused by such lucrative work. The BDR on the other hand has far less social and economic mobility.

How the government deal with the scenario will be formative in the minds of the electorate and Dhaka's middle class, so they had better pull out their best moves. The BDR cantonment is currently surrounded by tanks and RAB. Negotiations are being reported across blogs and newsmedia, so you can spend time listening to Bangladeshi Whispers if your heart desires.

21.2.09

16.2.09

This is an analysis of the essence of pakihood. I mean no insult to Allama Iqbal, and the dreams of many others. What I'm talking about here is a kind of undignified behaviour that makes me want to eat my face.

There's an annoying salacious rumour doing the rounds of the yaar yaar types and white town. Its providing actual pride to the yaar types. It involves a hollywood actor and a young lady from a significant south asian muslim political family.

Sure the symbols this generates are potent: politics, exotic east, entertainment, sensuality, western domination, eastern subservience, and most critical of all, a brown delight at providing consumable entertainment for white people, and hence essential worth to themselves.

But its just another addition to a long list of cultural capitulations. Take my country, pervert my religion, teach it to me, take my assets, take my dignity...oh and while your at it, enjoy my curry and my sisters. While im watching you rape my culture, let me take lots of your qualifications to prove my worth according to your great white standards.

Come on guys, where's your spirit of the Pind? don't tell me Clooney won't get honour killed over this? At least refuse to regard this as anything but shameful, remember that actors and actresses are values at the same level as prostitutes where you come from, at least complain about class mismatch? Or is his white symbol far just too potent?

You have to laugh at the UK government sometimes. Sometimes because no other emotion ticks the correct box. The campaign to corrupt every level of muslim organisation is now apparently changing tack. A fatal lack of mental toughness has resulted in folks, who are far away from violent crime, perverting themselves to 'engage' it. For local governments keen to bribe mosques to take on their service burden, the preventing violent extremism jive is another technocratic chocolate bar. Why are they obsessed with mosques? as if potential terrorists are institutionalised fellows.....

Its important to analyse the whole situation that makes the government so stupid and evil, and the interests that constantly negotiate new levels of retardedness. Some sell-out academies now offer MA's in terrorism related guff, think tanks devote a quarter of their 'resources' to pissing in the wind on this matter, experts inform and rub each other's backs and the powerful wilfully prevent certain obvious facts (the foreign policy link) from being accepted into the official public vernacular.

Meanwhile our organisations are weakened by criticism and their horizons narrowed by myopic mojolessness.

Lets imagine some headlines...

Muslim Organiser arrested for advising aspirant students not to become medics and thus 'moronic NHS lackeys'.

One million Muslim males arrested for refusing to accept homosexuality. We'd have locked up the women, but we are hoping that some of them will breed with us while all the alternatives are unavailable. What do you mean they still wear headscarves?

Muslim elder held for 48 days for contextualising Two Nation Theory as a defensive solution in British Occupied India during the 30s and 40s.

Mother arrested for forbidding her children from having sharia subverting sexual relations with white people.

Muslim institution's assets frozen for not playing footsie with government poodle.

Ten thousand Muslims finally do some superfiqh, converting to Judaism in order to get away with being thoroughly socio-culturally inbred, yet accepted by 'mainsteam' society.

8.2.09

This really takes the biscuit. One again realises that this country has no concern for anyone else other than itself. Nooooope, the Muslims of India are not safe from its forked tongue.... you'd (naively) think Bangladeshis might get less malice. But you'd be in Ummahtic-cloud-cuckoo-land.

If only I could argue this one out with Allama Iqbal now and have access to a time capsule.

I can see this playing well with Hasina's new Awami League government in Bangladesh. They are all for some highly dubious 'south asian tewwow agreement' and sucking on the Obamas manboobs for Development, Deradicalisation and Social Spastication dollars.

I think im going to study the similarities of spastication between PPP and the AL. You bingos are such pakis, you pakis are such bingos. I am so glad my honour doesnt depend on either of you.

5.2.09

Its funny how many residents of houses-with-icy-bits-of-pavement-right-outside have not cleared up the hazard on their front door yet. I wonder how many have even considered taking a shovel to it. No, just enjoy the snow, leave clearance to the government, because they can protect you.

One of the things id like to do is to create a collaborative map of spatial witness statements to investigate gritting last sunday night, when the snow was falling. The maps of which and where councils bothered to grit would speak volumes about the comparative value given to this kind of public safety. Cascading shirking from economistically motivated transport and government entities has been noticed by those with an eye out.

My angst is that we have become ionised out of a sense of local and community commitment. Whether by mass transit systems, distraction, hatred of politics or self love. If theres a problem, the significant and responsible person should not run away from or ignore it so easily, they must be expected to dig in and solve it. Becoming aloof (socially) and distant (spatially) causes harm, but this is what happens most of the time. Apparently it is called 'social mobility'.

Extreme examples are cowardly corrupt third world politicians running away from their electorates to the west and white flight from western capitals. Normal examples I guess are some of the economic migrations of non powerful people of the third world. The difference between the extreme and normal cases is not clear but has something to do with the ability to transform situations. In either case the underlying matters are not addresses, merely postponed and perhaps multiplied

The anticonsumer approach I'm looking for is not contained simply caused by migration patterns. The truth is that if everybody is on the run and in transit, we must spend efforts repairing fissures in local social space and reduce reliance on government.

3.2.09

It has been 30 years since the Islamic Revolution ushered in one of the most interesting governmental experiments of the 20th Century.

For the Muslim that is.

Warts and wonders have ensued and the global hegemon and its minions have continually slashed at Iran's hamstrings. Cruelties, atheisms, foolishnesses and corruptions have raised their ugly heads also. Lessons must be learnt from this experience. Nondrunken ones.

Launching a satellite into space isn't THAT exceptional, but unlike an effete Millennium Development Goal or 'Poverty' Reduction Strategy Paper, there is something extremely ballsy about it. Having your own eyes up there monitoring and communicating with your own environment is of great benefit to any nation. Nurturing the expertise to pull off such a feat, in these techno-hegemonic days is something to be written home about. Iran has done this despite severe technological blockading.

It is an expression of confidence, policy continuity and autonomy. I hope it is matched by effective surface-to-air defensive capability.